BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE PROUDLY ANNOUNCES PROGRAMMING FOR HYSTERIA, ITS 5TH BIENNIAL INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF WORK BY WOMEN. Now in its fifth incarnation, HYSTERIA has become one of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s most eagerly anticipated events. Over a ten-day period Buddies plays host to rapid-fire succession of events ranging from a visual art display and performance installations to eclectic lineups featuring dance, film, music,spoken word and theatre performances.

“In 2003 this unique showcase was but a glimmer in our feminist eyes, and now, six years later it is a notable festival of international renown that has played host to established and emerging artists from across Canada, the United States and Europe – broadening our vision of not only women artists but of the very potential of art itself. Hysteria is a celebration of the indomitable spirit of the artist where passion and creativity fly in the face of economic uncertainty and diminished opportunity.

This year’s festival promises to live up to your expectations of artistic excellence and diversity with performances by TBL [TallBlondLadies] from Sweden and Germany, Canadian performance art and video icon, Shawna Dempsey from Winnipeg, American spoken word superstar Staceyann Chin and Drag legend milDRED just to name a few. Local legends share the stage with artists from across the continent as we offer up two riotous cabaret evenings Mass Hysteria and The Invert Parade. Never a dull moment and a new program everyday, Hysteria has something (actually a whole lot!) for everyone.” – Moynan King, Festival Director

Ticket prices are accessible, ranging from PWYC events to $15 evening passes and an all inclusive $50 Festival pass. Tickets are available in advance by calling our box office at 416.975.8555. A full schedule of Hysteria is available on line at www.artsexy.ca

HYSTERIA FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

THURSDAY OCTOBER 22 Festival Kick-Off Bash and Opening Performances 8pm, full-facility, FREE An evening of performance throughout the theatre featuring work by Andreane Leclerc and Willow Rutherford, Raging Asian Women, Yvonne Ng, Risa Kusumoto, Diann Chea, Gail Allen and Rebecca Singh. Come and enjoy a free sampling of multidisciplinary performance. Plus: Visual art by Karina Bergmans, Saba Giana and a new installation by Moynan King and Trixie and Beever.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 23 Evening Pass $15

Staceyann Chin (NYC) 8pm, Cabaret An evening with the iconic spoken word superstar, performer and novelist. An award winning writer and activist her work has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Pittsburgh Daily, and has being featured on 60 Minutes and Oprah. Come and experience an intimate performance, reading and talk by this amazing and inspiring artist.

Gaggle 9pm, The Chamber Gaggle. A flock of women gather. Gather and gossip. Gaggle explores the dynamics of women, competition and how and why they talk about each other and our world. Directed by Karin Randoja (Independent Aunties), choreographed by Alisha Stranges, and created by the gaggle group, which features 15 amazing women, all alumni of the Humber Theatre Training Program.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 24 Evening Pass $15

Shawna Dempsey (Winnipeg) 8pm, The Cabaret Shawna Dempsey discusses lezzie, feminist performance and video art, drawing upon examples from her 20-year collaboration with Lorri Millan. This Winnipeg-based duo has created uppity artworks such as“We’re Talking Vulva”, “A Day in The Life of A Bull-Dyke”, “Lesbian National Parks and Services” and “Consideration Liberation Army”. Shawna will be interspersing her talk and screening with live performance, reflecting Dempsey and Millan’s own particular flavour of queer fun and funny Canadiana.

A collaborative performance project between Anna Berndtson and Irina Runge. TBL inverts female stereotypes through the composition of absurd and unexpected performative gestures, incorporating a range of accoutrement from high-end fashion to sports gear. Their works present diametrically opposed concepts; beauty and grace are juxtaposed and diminished through brute action and athleticism, tacitly disrupting and challenging gender-based categorizations.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 25 Spin – A Workshop Presentation 8pm, The Chamber, PWYC Written and Performed by Evalyn Parry, with Anna Friz and Brad Hart A musical, poetic and theatrical investigation of the Bicycle as muse, musical instrument, and instrument of social change. Taking inspiration from a series of amazing-but-little-known cycling ladies from history (Annie Londonderry, the first woman to ride around the world in 1895! Amelia Bloomer, 19th century sufferagette, advocate of “dress reform”, and name sake of “bloomers”!), Parry spins a story that encompasses proto-feminism, the invention, evolution and marketing of the bicycle, Toronto’s most notorious bike thief, and a life-changing accident.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 27 Blue Box by Carmen Aguirre (Vancouver) 8pm, The Cabaret, PWYC In association with Nightswimming Theatre Drawing from her unbelievable (but totally true) life story, Carmen weaves a sensual tale of danger, lust and revolution from her experiences as a passionate young woman in the Chilean resistance to her misadventures with an illusive vision of a man who drifts in and out of her life. This one woman show is a sexy and surprising storytelling experience performed by one of the fiercest and funniest performers in Canada.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 29 Evening Pass: $15 When She Was King milDRED (NYC) 8pm, The Cabaret In this one woMan show milDRED takes us on a gender-bending, theatrical ride through her many ‘selves’, which include impersonations of Shaft and P.Diddy. milDRED is world-renowned for her character appearances. A queen of disguise, she mimes men’s roles, looking for masculinity in women. Using theatre, dance, poetry and cultural history, milD
RED breaks down racial and gender stereotypes using humour and beauty to express one’s individual truth. www.dredlove.com

Mixed Programme 9pm, The Chamber A multi-disciplinary evening of short works featuring short films by Lesley Farley (Regina) and Anita Ponton (London), dance by Nova Bhattacharya and Tanja Woloshen (Winnipeg), performance by Sarah Friend and an interactive lobby performance by Shara Mohamed.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 30 Evening Pass: $15 THE INVERT PARADE An evening of queer brilliance featuring a sexy pre-show performance by Coral Short followed by outrageous performances by A-list Canadian lezzies and fabulous allies, hosted by Quebecois celeb Nathalie Claude. Pre-Show Performance: Guardian by Coral Short 8pm, The Cabaret The Invert Parade Mainstage 9pm, The Chamber Hosted by Nathalie Claude With Susana Cook (NYC), Coral Short and Alexis O’Hara, Dayna McLeod, Diane Flacks, Trixie and Beever, Clara Fury, Lucas Silveira (of The Cliks), Shannon Cochrane and special Anonymous guests followed by dancing and revelry. Music by DJ LadyBear.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 31 Madame Pierre’s Other Tongue 8pm, The Cabaret, Tickets $10 Lazlo Pearlman (London UK) Why is the French cock feminine? The German moon masculine? Do you know what shame hair is? Would you like someone French to graze your watercress? “Madame Pierre’s Other Tongue” is a subversive, surreal and silly look at language and the trouble it gets us into, with song, dance and genderfuck from a queer variety artist, cabaret and burlesque transman’s point of view.

HYSTERIA VISUAL ART GALLERY Open throughout the festival Organisms and Orifices a mingling of sculptural creatures suspended in air by Karina Bergmans Nude Series #1 & #2 2 original works by 18 year old, Toronto based artist, Saba Giani

Room for Virginia Woolf Ante-Chamber Installation by Moynan King and Trixie and Beever